Summary of the Campaign
Addressing a catastrophic lack of blood donors in Russia (only 31% of the sufficient number by 2008!), the Ministry of Health launched a 5-year communications programme to encourage more peolple to donate blood and more frequently. A unique strategy was worked out - building a social institution of blood donation.
The campaign embraced 21 regions in 2008 and 47 in 2009, addressing potential donors (nearly all the adult population), the Blood Service, media, government, business, NGOs, educational institutions and churches. It integrated over 1500 events (over 10 formats), 2 nationwide PSA campaigns, creation of a blood donation web portal and a nationwide hotline, traditional and social media activities, visual identity design and a corporate culture programme for the national Blood Service.
The 2008-2009 campaigns generated 9500 media impressions, positive changes in public opinion and motivation to donate blood, reducing fears about blood donation. After the 2008 campaign donor number on transfusion stations in target regions grew by 30%; after 2009 the donor number grew by 4% NATIONWIDE (including 36 NON-target areas), achieving the sufficient level in several regions. A wave of response initiatives from ALL audiences (organizing events, distributing materials, creating corporate donor teams, etc.) showed that the new institution came to life.

The Goal
Strategic goal: to achieve the sufficient number of recurrent donors.
Objectives:
- Educate the public about blood donation.
- Integrate efforts of all parties able to contribute to blood donation development.
- Create social relationships that motivate people to give blood frequently.
- Strengthen the public trust in the Blood Service.
The effectiveness of the campaign was traced by donor number dynamics, public opinion changes and media coverage.
The planning was based on the research of successful donation support practice in the USSR and abroad (open sources, archives) and the current situation in Russia (statistics, media coverage and polls in the regions concerned).

The Situation
Accident victims, surgeries, complicated childbirth... Every 3rd person needs a blood transfusion at least once in his or her life. Many, e.g. cancer patients, depend on blood transfusions. Blood can’t be synthesized. While the average donor number in Europe was 40 donors per thousand people (which is considered sufficient). In Russia it was 12.5 per thousand by the end of 2007. The donor base was shrinking and ageing. The Ministry of Health and Social Development for Russia initiated a 5-year campaign that sought to expand the regular donor base by promoting mass voluntary blood donation.

The Strategy
Building the Social Institution of blood donation: donors should feel part of a community fulfilling a vital function, be motivated by the social status and public acknowledgement. Blood donation should become standard.
Target audiences:
- Those constituting the institution: donors (current, potential), recipients, Blood Service personnel, government, NGOs dealing with donation or related issues
- ‘External’ audiences: media, businesses, educational institutions, churches and NGOs dealing with other issues.
Building an institution takes years. The 2008-2009 campaigns aimed to launch this process.
2008 focus:
- Defining basic values of the institution
- Establishing communication channels and formats to connect members with each other and other institutions
- Engaging the audiences with the campaign and guiding their interaction;
- Initiating voluntary public initiatives.
2009 focus:
- Improving the institution’s ideology.
- Creating a pool of key opinion leaders who set an example.
- Expanding the partner network.
- Increasing the self-regulation level of the institution.